2026 Jeffrey P. Weinstein Family Law Institute

Presenters

Hon. Marc R. Brown, P.J.F.P.

Union County

Hon. Daniel H. Brown, P.J.F.P.

Presiding Judge of the Family Part, Middlesex County

Hon. Michael R. Casale, (Ret.)

Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis

is Of Counsel to Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP with offices in Roseland and Iselin, New Jersey, where he concentrates his practice in alternate dispute resolution of family law and complex civil and commercial cases. Appointed to the bench in 1996, he formerly served in the Criminal, Civil and Family Divisions in the Essex Vicinage, including time served as Acting Presiding Judge in the Criminal and Family Divisions.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Casale previously served as Assistant Township Attorney and Councilman for the Township of Bloomfield. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association Family Law Section, the NJSBA Cannabis Law Special Committee and the Essex County Bar Association.

Judge Casale has lectured for ICLE, the New Jersey State Bar Association and other organizations. He is a member of the Barry Croland Family Law and Brennan-Vanderbilt American Inns of Court and has been quoted in The New York Times.

Judge Casale received his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Connecticut and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was the recipient of the Peter J. Rodino Award. He was Law Clerk to the Honorable Nicholas J. Scalera.

Hon. Joanne Cocchiola, J.S.C.

Essex County

Hon. Angela W. Dalton, J.S.C. (Ret.)

Dalton Clark Law Group, LLC

Hon. Lisa A. Firko, J.A.D.

Superior Court of New Jersey

is a Superior Court Judge assigned to the Appellate Division and sits in Newark, New Jersey. Appointed to the Bench in June of 2008, Judge Firko originally served in the Civil Division, Bergen County, and was subsequently assigned to the Chancery Division, Family Part, until 2013, when she was reassigned to the Civil Division. She has handled matters involving domestic violence, dissolution, non-dissolution and child support enforcement.

Judge Firko is Co-Chair of the Family Practice Committee and of the Non-Dissolution/Domestic Violence Subcommittee. She is a member of the American, New Jersey State and Bergen County Bar Associations, and a former member of the Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts. Prior to her appointment to the bench Judge Firko was a Partner in Lum, Drasco & Positan for more than 20 years, where she handled a variety of civil and family matters. She has lectured for ICLE, ATLA-NJ and other organizations.

Judge Firko received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Seton Hall University, where she was elected to Pi Sigma Alpha, and her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law. She was Law Clerk to the Honorable Burrell Ives Humphreys, Assignment Judge, Superior Court, Hudson County.

Hon. David B. Katz, P.J.F.P.

Hudson County

Hon. Gary Potters, J.S.C.

Hudson County

Hon. Tara Schillari-Rich, J.S.C.

Hudson County

Hon. Marcella Matos Wilson, J.S.C.

Essex County

was appointed to the Superior Court in 2014, is assigned to the Family Division, Essex County, and sits in Newark, New Jersey. She serves as the Lead Judge for the FM Unit in Essex County. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was a solo practitioner for 20 years and concentrated her practice in family law.

Co-Chair of the Supreme Court Child Support Subcommittee, Judge Wilson serves on the Supreme Court Family Practice Committee and Presiding Judge FD-FM Committee. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was a member of the Essex County Family Law Executive Committee, a volunteer for the Early Settlement Panel and was a court approved Mediator. She was the recipient of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Award for her outstanding contributions to crime victims and their families.

Judge Wilson received her B.S. from Caldwell University and her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law. She clerked for the Honorable John J. Dois and the Honorable Joseph A. Falcone.

Rita M. Aquilio, Esq.

Treasurer, New JerseySBA Family Law Section
Lawrence Law - Watchung, NJ (124841), Watchung

Brooke Caringi

DLA, LLC, Fairfield

Vito Colasurdo, Jr., Esq.

Colasurdo Law LLC, Red Bank

Robert A. Epstein, Esq.

Manzi Epstein Lomurro & DeCataldo, LLC, West Orange

Christine Fitzgerald, Esq.

Chair, New JerseySBA Family Law Section
SeidenFreed, LLC, Cranford

Alexandra M. Freed, Esq.

SeidenFreed, LLC, Pennington

Shari L. Genser, Esq.

Ross & Calandrillo, LLC, Mountainside

Kaitlyn A. Lapi, Esq.

Hagen, Weisberg & Nunn, Cedar Knolls

Nicole D. Lyons, CPA/CFF/CVA

WithumSmith+Brown, PC, Princeton

John O'Grady, CVA

EisnerAmper LLP, New York

Dr. Marcy A. Pasternak

Overcoming Barriers, Watchung

is a clinical and forensic psychologist with a practice in Watchung, New Jersey. While her practice serves individuals of all ages in both the clinical and forensic arena, Dr. Pasternak’s special interests include marital and family therapy, divorce therapy, forensic evaluations concerning custody and parenting time, removal, grandparent visitation, risk assessment and personal injury. She often serves as a parenting coordinator and is a certified divorce mediator, conducting both divorce mediation and therapeutic mediation. She conducts Intensive Family Interventions through “Building Family Resilience,” an outgrowth of her practice.

A licensed psychologist in New Jersey, New York and Vermont, Dr. Pasternak has been a member of the American, New Jersey and Somerset Hunterdon Psychological Associations, and has an APA Certificate of Proficiency in the Treatment of Alcohol or Other Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders and an NCC AP Master Addiction Counselor Credential. She has been a member of the New Jersey Psychological Association’s Forensic Committee and is Past President of the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (NJ-AFCC).

Dr. Pasternak has served as a psychological expert in eleven New Jersey counties and as an adjunct staff member at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, and has been a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New Jersey Medical School, UMDNJ. She has given workshops and presentations to the mental health and legal communities.

Dr. Pasternak received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Duke University.

Daniel Roche, CPA/ABV, ASA

CBIZ, Morristown

is a Partner in and the National Leader of the Valuation, Forensic, Litigation Support Services of Marcum LLP in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. His experience includes appraising companies and providing litigation support for family law matters and commercial litigation matters as well as non-litigation (estate and gift tax/financial reporting) purposes.

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New Jersey, Mr. Roche holds the Accredited in Business Valuation (“ABV”) credential from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as well as the Accredited Senior Appraiser (“ASA”) designation from the American Society of Appraisers. He is Past President of the ASA’s Northern New Jersey Chapter and a member of the ASA National Board of Examiners, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA). He is a frequent presenter on business valuation topics, both within Marcum and externally at continuing legal education seminars, and is the co-author of articles which have appeared in the New York Law Journal and The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.

Mr. Roche received his B.S. from Monmouth University and his M.B.A., with a concentration in Finance, from Rutgers University.
(8/23)

Jenna Shapiro, Esq.

Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein & Blader, P.C., Lawrenceville

Michelle A. Wortmann, Esq.

Sarno Da Costa D'Aniello Maceri Webb LLC, Roseland